Numbers 22:1-41, “The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”

As mentioned in the last message, temptations are not evil, what is done with them can be. I also mentioned the fact that we always struggle to know whether we are led of the Spirit or the flesh. Prophet Samuel in 1Samuel 16 almost made a big mistake when God asked him to go to Jesse’s house to anoint the next king. He picked the wrong man who looked more of a king type. Prophet Samuel, a man of God, a man who hears from the Lord almost anointed the wrong man because he looked on the outside, God looks on the inside. God had to stand in the way and stop the oil from running and then directed him to the right man David. I wonder if he tried to cast out demons since the man he wanted to anoint oil would not flow on him however in our day a number exercise this. If this can happen to a prophet of God, we are not exempt.

Numbers 22:23, “Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road”. The Angel of the Lord here is some manifestation of God Himself. At times it refers to the Angel of God and at times the Lord, in all, God is the One in the picture. Of all, it’s the donkey that saw the Angel of the Lord, showing God reveals Himself to whoever He wants to. Here is Balaam hurrying to get to Balak, already the Lord said he will not curse the Israelites, twice he sought the Lord in regards to it and twice he received the same answer. Finally the Lord allows him to go to Balak but the instructions are to wait for the words of the Lord to be put in his mouth. Why would the Lord stop him on the road if He had sent him? Here is what I believe, he was impatient, he was not going for the Lord but for himself. He was not a true prophet of God, he was a profit.

The Angel of the Lord standing on the way was really to his benefit as we can tell he is going to sin. God would not want us to sin so He will stand in the way, but at times we try so hard to push our way through casting demons thinking they are in our way when in the actual sense it’s the Lord’s doing. You might be riding on something to a destination, to a higher level and if things are not moving fast as expected, what do you do?, do you try and abuse everything that has always been beneficial to you? Under frustrations many people tend to do stupid things, some smash their walls, what they have in their houses or around them because they are mad. The same happened to Balaam, at his frustrations, he began to abuse what had always been beneficial to him, the donkey.

Something to think about, from day one to this very day, the donkey had never disobeyed the owner, couldn’t he stop, think and check why the animal was not moving? he didn’t care about what was happening to his donkey, all he cared about was reaching Balak for selfish reasons. There are people who will not care about their valued assets such as people around them, all they will care about is reaching the top but God knows how to stop you and I on our track when the evil is beginning to surface and prevail. It started with temptation, an enemy given a room and now he is in control. One thing to note, everything evil you could ever think of is already in each and every one of us. If the Lord was not controlling the thermostat (standing in the way), there are things that could have manifested by now. I thank God that He has prevented us from doing the worst to ourselves.

Numbers 22:28, “Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” If the Lord can’t get your attention through things He is doing, He will get your attention through extra ordinary stuff. Balaam did not discern that the Lord tried to stop him because he was concerned about where he was going, then God opens the mouth of the donkey to speak. For a few minutes, he argues with the donkey but not clicking in his mind that this donkey was speaking. Why is he stubborn to see that the Lord has stopped him? simple, his heart is not on what the Lord is doing, he is blinded by it because of his motives. It is possible to have dreams, ambitions, desires cloud the path God would want to take us. It could be on the same way, but Him standing on the way could mean things like, have faith in me, don’t lose focus; be patient I am the one leading you; lean not on your own understanding; real motives of desires? What could be a blessing to you could be a curse because of the way it is handled. Starting perfectly in the spirit but progressed in the flesh. Starting in the spirit means starting with God, ending in the flesh means God is no longer present in it.

It’s easy to start with God and as things begin to fall in place, and you see yourself succeeding forget God knowingly or unknowingly and it’s because what you wanted to accomplish has consumed you to the extent that you don’t need God. If God interrupts, stop and seek God, “what do you want me to learn from this Lord, what I’m I doing wrong? what is the condition of my heart? what is really my motive for pursuing this?”. You could be casting God thinking it’s the devil. To continue… Blessings Evans